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Friday, November 1, 2013

We were understandably a little nervous about bringing home our new addition to our family. We had no idea how Monica would react to Lauren, and what type of adjustment period to anticipate.

The great news is that Monica is absolutely crazy about her little sister.

In fact, the second night we were home from the hospital, Monica showed up in our room at 4 a.m., just to make sure that Lauren was resting comfortably. Luckily, Monica was very reasonable when we explained to her that it is very important that she stays in her own room at night, and that mommy and daddy would promise to take care of Lauren, as long as she would sleep all night in her big girl bed :)

But, Monica is a great helper during the day with Lauren. When Lauren is sad and cries, Monica tries to cheer her up by bringing her toys, entertaining her with picnics, and reading stories to her, and hanging out on her playmat.

That said, while Lauren appreciates Monica's efforts, she definitely lets her know when she needs her space.

Monica also loves to hold Lauren snuggle her with lots of hugs and love.

This is one of my favorites - not because of the picture itself, but because of the story behind it. Monica was whining and insisting that she get a turn to sit with Lauren. But as soon as I sat her up next to her, Monica was mad that she was leaning on her. Monica kept scooting away and, naturally, Lauren kept leaning, until the two of them ended up slumped all over each other.

Some dolls and stuffed animals to cheer up Lauren.

As a mom of two, one of my most favorite parts is when Monica and I are playing and we hear Lauren wake up from her nap. As soon as Monica hears her make a peep over the monitor, she starts shouting, "Help her, help her!" and races for the stairs so we can go upstairs and get her from her crib.

That's not to say that parenting two isn't without it's challenges! As Lauren becomes more mobile and is getting interested in toys, we've had plenty of opportunities to work on Monica's sharing skills.As you can see below, Monica is streaking by to get to Lauren. She is never far away when Lauren starts checking out a new toy!

We've worked out some strategies to handle this, though. We ask Monica up front which toys she would like to share with Lauren, and then Monica gives them to her.

But it's generally pretty easy to
convince the two of them to play nicely together. We'll see how that
changes over time when Lauren starts forming opinions of her own!

Most
often, I just have to make sure they aren't mauling each other. I
never know what I'm going to find if I look away for even a second!

The hardest part is really also the sweetest part. It's tough when they both need me at the same time. Luckily, mommy usually has lots of hugs to go around for everyone!